The Coal-gas Demonstration next Wednesday.
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ON Wednesday of next week (10th October) the demonstration of vehicles converted to be driven on either petrol or coal-gas, which we shall have brought together for public inspection, will be held at the new commercial vehicle repair depot and garage belonging to Messrs. John I. Thornycroft and Co., Ltd., at Pulford Street, Grosvenor Road, London, S.W. This building is, for its purpose, one of the finest in London. It is conveniently situated close to the junction of Grosvenor Road, Vauxhall Bridge Road, and Vauxhall Bridge, omnibuses and trams running to within a few yards of the entrance. We have been promised a very representative collection of converted motor vehicles, and there has been so extensive a demand for tickets of admission that we shall be compelled to give instructions that admission can only be given on production of a ticket. These tickets have been sent to all applicants, so that the stipulation will serve to add to the comfort of our guests. We would ask everyone to be as early as possible-;--say, 2.15 p.m.—as there are many reasons why the vehicles should be freed by 4.30 p.m., and there will be a good deal to get through in the two hours available before that time.
Cost Per —? . THE QUESTION of cost is always with us. We would not have it otherwise. Indeed, it is in this aspect that the real distinction between touring ear and commercial vehicle lies, as many a salesman, on turning his attention to the heavies after dealing only in the lighter type of chassis, has discovered only as the result of dearly-bought experience. The intending purchaser of a ear discusses aesthetics, comfort, or wind-cutting features, according to his taste and age. The prospective owner of a commercial motor wants to know how much it isegoing to cost him to run, or if it is going to help to swell his banking account, and not, as frequently happens in the case when the purchase is a pleasure car, to reduce it. He is not always so sure, however, how he would like to have those costs presented, and it is with regard to that matter that we would write. Quite a large percentage of inquirers ask for the figure for the cost per ton-mile. It is probable that they have all of them seen at some time or other references to comparative tests of chassis in which petrol consumption is given at so much per ton-mile, and have concluded, quite wrongly, that the ton-mile is a suitable basis for calculation of costs. Information almost equal in value could be obtained from a computation of the cost per horse-power. The term ton-mile is an academic one and is applied to the product of the gross weight of the vehicle and load, multiplied by the mileage which has been run. On• this basis, a light chassis which is, other things being equal, the best, would be penalized in inverse ratio to its weight. There is, moreover, apart from this, the fact that, even if it were of any use when obtained, the real figure for the ton-mileage is, in the majority of cases, difficult of attainment, and necessitates the accurate noting of the gross weight of the vehicle at every stage of its journey. The precise difference to the loading caused by each collection or delivery must be accounted, and also the exact mileage covered under each such variation.
Our experience has proved that, in all but a few very exceptional cases, the cost per vehicle-mile is the most useful figure. From it all the information which is required for various commercial purposes may be easily calculated. That part of the running which occurs without load is unavoidable, and it must be paid for in some way. Its cost, therefore, has to be included in any charge which may be made, either :purely and simply for haulage, as in the case of a contractor, 'or, when the owner uses the vehicle only as a necessary adjunct to his business, as establishment charges which form a proportion of his costs. In some cases, when the mileage is regular, it is sometimes excluded from the calculations, andthe actual cost per ton moved is all that need be recorded. The latter procedure is adopted for local delivery costing by many of the railway companies. The actual accounting of costs of running is a simple matter, the charges under the heads of wages, fuel and oil, rent, rates, and insurance, maintenance and repairs, tyres, and interest on capital need only to be noted over a period and the total divided by the number of miles run.
ElectricStarters for Commercial Motors. THE APPEARANCE of a new range of electric engine starters possessing some particularly admirable features naturally draws our attention to the question of how far -such starters might with economic advantage' he employed on commercial vehicles. On the adverse aide of the balance, we have the cost of the starter, the coat of keeping the battery supplied with current, the depreciation of the electric installation and the possibility of mechanical or electrical breakdown. On the other side, we have an opportunity for effecting very considerable economies in fuel and also the retnhval of a common complaint on the part of the public to the effect that motor vehicles are noisy and therefore objectionable when standing in the quieter residential roads while deliveries are being effected. We cannot expect a van driver, unless he is more than -human, to stop his engine before every house C19 visited in order to economise a trifle of petrol, especially as, by stopping, he gives himself the trouble of re-starting. If, say, 60 deliveries are made in the day and the average time taken is three minutes, it follows that the van engine, if no electric, starter is provided; is run unnecessarily for two:anct-a=natf lours a day. Admittedly, it is turning slowly on light load, but nevertheless the unnecessary fuel,. zonsumption must be considerable, and consequently it is well worth the while of the owners of delivery vans to give , careful thought to the value of the economies that can be effected by the fitting of the electric starter. The question of the need for fitting heavy lorries with starters is, perhaps, another matter.
Lighting and Advertising on Vans.
WHEN WE CONSIDER the electric installation of a petrol-driven commercial vehicle, we cannot judge of the 'claims of the electric starter without, at the same time, reckoning up the points in favour of electric lighting ; this, for the reason that the starting motor must thaw its current from a battery which is fed by' the lighting dynamo. Particularly, in the present era of dim lights, commercial vehicle owners hesitate to spend money on electric equipment, which apparently has no advantage other than slightly improved convenience when compared with the other systems of lighting. Ton often, no account whatever is taken of the possibilities of employing electric light as a means of rendering night advertising effective. The limitations of the present must not be allowed to influence us. In the winter months in particular, the average delivery van is useless as an advertising medium during many of the hours in which shopping centres are most busy and good buyers—especially of the female sex—are about in the largest numbers. If it is worth while to put posters on the sides of a van to advertise, let us say, a Christmas sale during the brief hours of daylight, it is equally worth while to illuminate those posters after dark.
The illuminated advertisement appeals with a special force, and catches the eye more readily than the day-time poster announcement. There are endless possibilities in the way of night. advertisements by electric light on motor vehicles. There is no need to limit ourselves to the commonplace method, and it is possible to think of striking schemes which will be applicable to almost any trade.
Advertising is, in fact, one of the most important functions of a complete electric car installation, but, up to the present, its possibilities have been frequently ignored and generally belittled, merely because its value cannot be exactly assessed, whereas the extra cost of providing a complete electric installation is evident from the first. That cost will no doubt be lowered as time goes on, but we cannot look forward with any degree of complacency to schemes for reducing it to a minimum by putting all the work of lighting, ignition and engine starting on to one heaply constructed dynamotor. It is necessary to emphasize that no electrical machinery can be expected to give permanently good service unless it is thoroughly well built of the right materials and is well finished. If these necessary conditions are complied with, then there is nothing upon which dependence can more safely be placed than an electric dynamo or motor. Even the battery which, in the past, used to give frequent trouble, has new reached a stage at which the regular performance of its duties may be reasonably taken for granted.